After the white tiger had finished making a fuss, the true energy within Brian Carter had also mostly recovered. He finally lazily got up to check his hard-won spoils of war. But as soon as he saw them, Brian Carter's heart chilled—of the rabbit that weighed over ten jin, only a small portion remained. It seemed that most of it had been torn away just now by the white tiger’s grabbing and pulling. Looking over at the white tiger, it was lying at the entrance of the cave, happily enjoying the large chunk of rabbit it had just snatched, making Brian Carter so angry that he cursed at the white tiger nonstop. Damn it, what a bandit! But then he thought about how he had taken over its lair, leaving it homeless, and felt a bit more balanced—he might as well consider it paying rent.

On top of that, after the tumble just now, the nameless fruit he had kept at his chest was already smashed to a pulp. Not that he cared much about the fruit—after eating it for over two months, he was already sick of it. Just thinking about the small piece of rabbit meat left made Brian Carter drool. For someone like Brian Carter who especially loved meat, these past two months had been almost unbearable.

Luckily, whenever he left the cave, he would pick up plenty of dead branches and withered grass, mainly to use as bedding. There was still a good amount piled in the corner. Normally, Brian Carter didn’t have the habit of roasting fruit, so those dry branches now came in handy.

Using the most primitive method, he drilled wood to make fire. Finally, near the cave entrance, he lit the first campfire since arriving in this world. The gradually growing flames not only brought warmth, but also a sense of security.

The smoke and the glow from the fire made the white tiger, which had been lying at the entrance, suddenly alert. With a start, it stood up, eyes wide with fear, and retreated more than ten meters, watching the fire from afar.

Brian Carter slapped his own forehead and cursed himself for being an idiot. Wild animals are naturally afraid of fire. He had always been reluctant to use the hard-to-find branches, but if he’d known this earlier, he could have used fire to drive away the white tiger. Feeling much more at ease, he used his long knife to cut up the remaining rabbit meat, then found a few tender branches, sharpened them, and skewered the meat.

The long-missed aroma of roasting meat wafted to his nose. The rabbit was extremely fat, and under the fire, it sizzled with beautiful bubbles of oil. It made Brian Carter's throat move and his mouth water uncontrollably.

When it was about done, Brian Carter didn’t care if it was too hot—he stuffed the rabbit meat into his stomach in big bites. The cultivation technique Brian Carter practiced was so miraculous that it could maximize the use of spiritual energy to replenish all his bodily needs. But spiritual energy could never replace appetite. The long-lost taste of meat, even without any seasoning and a bit bland, almost moved Brian Carter to tears—he was finally eating meat again. In his twenty years of life, it was the first time Brian Carter realized that eating meat could be such a blissful thing. This dead rabbit must have lived a long time, and with all the abundant spiritual energy nourishing it, the meat was exceptionally tender and delicious. Brian Carter nearly swallowed his own tongue as he ate. He finished more than half of the remaining rabbit before finally feeling completely full and unable to eat another bite.

Licking the greasy lips, Brian Carter burped and stretched lazily. As the saying goes, when you’re full and warm, you start to think of lustful things. After such a big meal, he actually started to miss the girls from his old school. Brian Carter wasn’t worried about his parents—before he left, the old man had used some mystical technique to leave behind a doppelganger to impersonate Brian Carter. Even Brian Carter himself was fooled by the doppelganger, let alone his parents. Who knows, maybe right now that doppelganger was busy having fun with some beauty, Brian Carter thought wickedly with a chuckle.

It was as if a beautiful woman appeared before his eyes. Just as Brian Carter was dazedly leaning in, a whiff of a fishy smell entered his nose, instantly snapping him awake. Brian Carter was shocked, nearly scared out of his wits. The distance between him and the white tiger was less than a foot—if not for a barrier between them, the white tiger could have torn him apart with a swipe of its paw. He scrambled back seven or eight steps in fright, and only after putting some distance between them did he calm down a bit.

The white tiger, however, didn’t make any move. Its eyes, as big as bronze bells, glared at Brian Carter, as if blaming him for being a coward. Then it looked at the still-steaming piece of rabbit meat, its tiger nose twitching slightly, clearly very interested in the roast meat.

Only then did Brian Carter remember that once any species reached the innate realm, its intelligence would gradually increase. The white tiger was already quite clever, and with its growing innate intelligence, it was surely much smarter than he had imagined. Thinking of this, Brian Carter was struck by an idea. He walked over nonchalantly and held up the remaining piece of roast meat. Sure enough, the white tiger’s gaze followed the meat.

“You want to eat?” Brian Carter chuckled.

The white tiger stared at the meat without moving, not answering.

“If you want to eat, just say so. If you don’t say anything, how am I supposed to know you want to eat? If you talk, then I’ll know you want it and I’ll give it to you. If you don’t say anything, even if I want to give it to you, I won’t…” Brian Carter rambled on smugly. You couldn’t blame him—after more than two months, except for a few words exchanged with the old man in the jade slip, he hadn’t spoken to anyone, and he was already going stir-crazy inside.

Chapter Four: Sudden Enlightenment

After rambling on for a while, Brian Carter didn’t find himself annoying, but he did manage to anger the white tiger. It opened its mouth and let out a furious roar, making his ears ring.